Back Again (and Again, and Again, and)
by Triscribe
Summary: Practically every time Merlin turned around, there she was again, flapping outside a window or perched on a wall, begging for his attention. Honestly, if he'd known a baby dragon could be so stubborn over constantly returning to his side, Merlin would have left Aithusa in that stupid egg...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"So- you two will be alright, then?" Merlin asked anxiously, despite his lingering expression of awed joy. Aithusa, the new dragon hatchling, was exploring the remnants of her shell and the stump she was perched upon. "I mean, I don't pretend I know the first thing about raising a baby dragon, but you'll be able to handle it all?"

"I should certainly hope so, considering all the hatchlings that have played across my hide over the centuries." The warlock grinned again at the derisive snort Kilgharrah unleashed. "Although... I should warn you, Merlin, that Aithusa may not be content to remain by my side."

He frowned sharply. "That might be a problem, if she's spotted by anyone. We hardly need rumors of a little dragon floating around, especially so soon after this business over the supposed last egg-"

"Rumors were not what I was referring to, young warlock. You are the Dragonlord who summoned her forth, and therefore Aithusa will be drawn to your presence." Kilgharrah told him. Merlin promptly gaped up at the ancient dragon.

"But that- she's- what!"

"You did not mishear me, Merlin."

"B-but- if Arthur or any of the other knights see her around me-! Can't I just order her to stay away for her own safety?" The youth asked desperately.

Kilgharrah gave him a disbelieving stare. "Tell me, how many small human children do you know who will obey an order to sit still for hours on end, with very little to occupy themselves, because it is 'for their own safety'?"

"Um..."

"Dragon hatchlings in their earliest months of life are not bound to follow a Dragonlord's orders, simply because they do not yet have the maturity of mind nor power to do so. Soon enough, Aithusa's inner magic will stabilize, and then you will be able to order her away." Kilgharrah rolled his wings, the dragon equivalent of a shrug. "Until that day comes, you had best accept that she will be a part of your life."

"No! It's too dangerous, for her _and_ me!" Pacing now, Merlin anxiously ran his hands through his dark hair. The hatchling clearly sensed something of his stress, for all of a sudden he was assaulted by a small white form flapping erratically and attempting to cling to his shirt. Carefully, Merlin wrapped his arms around Aithusa's fragile form, allowing her to settle on her new perch. Then, tiny golden eyes blinked up at him, and with a yawn the baby prepared to settle into sleep. Calmer, though still frustrated by this turn of events, the warlock reluctantly allowed her to remain there.

"You see?" There was a trace of amusement coloring Kilgharrah's tone. "She is soothed by your close company."

"I won't be able to say the same if she turns up in the city." Merlin muttered under his breath, cautiously stroking a finger over the miniscule white head. "Alright. I'll stay here as long as I can, but as soon as it starts to get light, I have to return to the camp, just as Aithusa has to remain here, with you. Take her and fly off to the mountains, I don't care, just get as far from Camelot as you can - and then do everything in your power to prevent Aithusa's return here."

"Merlin-"

"Do I need to make it an order?" The old dragon reluctantly sighed at Merlin's steely tone, but nodded. "Good."

After that, Kilgharrah settled himself upon the ground, allowing the warlock to sit and lean against him, hatchling still contentedly slumbering. Soon enough Merlin joined her in sleep, unconsciously maintaining the position of his folded arms in order to hold the infant. Keeping watch over them, the Great Dragon also paid close attention to the passage of time, knowing how upset the young Dragonlord would be were he to awake later than was prudent. Although, throughout the night, Kilgharrah debated with himself over using a bit of power to ensure both the little ones remained asleep and carrying them off to a safe place.

The flaw with that being, of course, that upon awakening, Merlin could immediately order him to return the warlock to Camelot. And besides, he had a separate destiny to fulfill, as Emrys, standing alongside the one fated to become the Once and Future King.

But despite this logic, Kilgharrah's internal battle lasted on, especially as he considered the fates of Balinor and the other Dragonlords...

When dawn was nigh on the horizon, he mentally nudged Merlin into waking up. The boy promptly deposited Aithusa within the larger dragon's paw, and hurried off to the campsite where his friends would soon be stirring as well. Mere minutes after her summoner left, Aithusa was awake and chirping inquisitively, eagerly looking about for him.

" _Merlin is gone, little one,"_ Kilgharrah murmured to her in the tongue of their kind. " _You will not be able to see him again for sometime."_

Instantly, Aithusa's snout wrinkled up unhappily. Even as he stood and prepared to take flight, Kilgharrah knew that he was about to have a distinctly tiring experience trying to keep the hatchling by his side. Hopefully, when she inevitably escaped and returned to Merlin, the young warlock wouldn't hold it against him _too_ much.

Because it _was_ inevitable, of that Kilgharrah had _no_ doubts.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Merlin was gathering firewood around the new campsite that evening when it happened. A cheerful chirp sounded from the tree above him, causing the young man to freeze in place. Slowly, he tilted his head upward, eyes wide as he caught sight of Aithusa peering down at him from the branches.

"Nooo, no no no," he muttered. "Aithusa. _Leave."_ The hatchling merely chirped again.

"Merlin, mate?" Gwaine's call caused Merlin to flinch in surprise. His foot caught on the log he'd previously been reaching for, and the youth wound up falling to the ground, the rest of the firewood scattered around him. In the tree directly overhead, Aithusa squeaked, preparing to jump down.

"I'm fine!" Merlin yelped. The dragon paused, and just in time, as Gwaine reached Merlin's side, one eyebrow raised.

"You don't sound fine," the knight said. "Thought I heard you talking to yourself."

"Of course, it's the only way I'm going to get any intelligent conversation around here." He put on a forced grin that seemed to satisfy his friend, as Gwaine let out a chuckle.

"Well, seeing as you've managed to drop your entire load, how about I help you gather this stuff up and take it back to camp?"

"Thanks, Gwaine." For the next few minutes, Merlin kept sending glances up at the foliage, glaring fearsomely at Aithusa every time it looked as though she might leave it. He was hard-pressed to disguise this from Gwaine, who seemed to come to the conclusion that a branch must have fallen on the servant's head, forever earning his ire towards the offending tree.

It was a couple hours later, once dinner had been prepared and served and eaten, and the knights all settling in for some sleep, that Merlin used a bit of magic to silently slip away. Making a beeline back to where he'd seen Aithusa, the warlock automatically reached for Kilgharrah with his mind.

 _I told you to get her away from here!_ He fussed at the grown dragon.

 _And that's what I was doing,_ came the irritated reply. _Until the hatchling slipped from my grasp and hid in the tree tops, making her way back to you._

Glowering, Merlin paused to kick at a tree trunk and let loose some of his frustration. A familiar chirp sounded from behind him, and then Aithusa was clambering up Merlin's clothes in order to perch on his shoulder.

"You've gotten a lot stronger in twenty-four hours," the youth murmured, reluctantly petting her. He waited a few moments before heading in the direction Kilgharrah indicated, reaching the dragon in a clearing soon enough.

"As I said," the ancient being huffed. "She will attempt to find you."

Merlin scowled and deposited the hatchling into the waiting paw. "Then this time, leave now and don't let go of her."

"I will try, young warlock, but again I can make no promises." With that, Kilgharrah took off into the air, Aithusa squeaking unhappily.

Rubbing at his face, Merlin waited until they'd disappeared from sight before he spun about and returned to the camp. Percival was on watch, but merely quirked an eyebrow at the sheepish servant. Merlin hurried to settle down on his bedroll and attempted to put all thoughts of baby dragons out of his mind.

He wasn't terribly successful, only getting a bit of sleep that night.

Dawn saw him up and preparing breakfast, startling Arthur with his promptness. For the entirety of that day's ride, Merlin was constantly glancing away into the trees or up at the sky, amusing the knights who caught him at it. They all assumed that the servant was enjoying being in the open when their group wasn't on a hunting trip or dangerous mission.

They were wrong, but it wasn't as though Merlin was going to _tell_ them that.

He didn't fully relax again until they'd returned to Camelot, and then immediately went to Gaius's quarters in order to go over everything that had happened. The old physician grew pale when he heard of Aithusa's brief reappearance, and of the Great Dragon's prediction that such a thing wouldn't be a one-time occurrence.

"You'll have to be ready, my boy, for the worst case scenario." Gaius stated firmly. "Keep a bag ready with your essentials, in case you need to grab the hatchling and run."

"But what about Arthur?"

"I don't wish to doubt him, but if anyone sees you with the little one and word gets back to him, you won't be able to gloss this over with Arthur, not anymore than you could if he discovered your magic. You will need to run, Merlin. And not look back."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was the third day since their return from the tomb, and as Merlin was carrying Arthur's breakfast tray down a hall he spotted a flash of white through the window. The warlock very nearly turned around then and there to go outside and check for sure, but Gwen pulled up alongside him and de-railed that plan.

"Good morning, Merlin!" She said cheerfully.

"Mm, oh, morning, Gwen," he replied, checking out the next window as they walked past. Gwen studied him for a moment, brow furrowing.

"Are you alright?" The woman asked him.

"Hm? Oh yeah, I'm fine, just, ah, have a lot on my mind today."

"Such as?"

Merlin scrambled for a decent cover. "Ah, Gaius needs me to clean the leach tank for him."

"Oh." Gwen scrunched up her nose in an expression of distaste. "Well, I'd offer to help, but I don't think I'd like doing that chore any more than you do."

"Thanks." Merlin rolled his eyes, but followed the gesture up with a grin. "What about you, any big plans for the day?"

"Elyan and I are going to spend some time in lower town this afternoon, but I thought I'd come see how Arthur was doing this morning first."

"In that case, I should warn you, wait until I take this food in first, or instead of his usual royal pratness you'll be encountering an entirely different animal." He gave an exaggerated shudder. "Arthur's always a terrible grouch before breakfast. Although..." Gwen glanced at him when the manservant trailed off.

"Although what?" She prompted.

"He might _not_ be such a grouch if _you_ were the one to walk in with his tray." The woman laughed, only to pause when she realized that Merlin was being serious.

"Really? Are you in that much of a hurry to go clean the leach tank?"

"No, but I would like to get a few other things done before that torture, which I won't be able to do if I'm stuck with waiting for Arthur to polish off his food. Please, Gwen?"

She lasted almost ten seconds against Merlin's pitiful expression. "Oh, alright, give it here." The instant the tray had been passed from his hands to hers, the youth gave his friend a blinding smile and then took off down the hall, heading for the nearest exit onto the castle ramparts.

"Please don't have been seen, please don't have been seen, _please_ don't have-" Merlin burst out of the door onto the walkway, only to be nearly thrown back through when a familiar weight plowed into his chest. "Aithusa-!"

The little dragon chirped and preened, immensely pleased with herself. Not even the strength of her lord's glare was enough to deter the hatchling's good mood.

"You are going to be the death of me, I just know it." Merlin grumbled, pulling off his jacket and wrapping it about the wriggling baby as well as he could. "Now _hold still!"_ Something in his tone must have gotten through to Aithusa, because she soon quieted down within the bundle. Once he was certain no trace of white could been seen between the folds of leather, Merlin quickly descended back into the castle, hurrying as quickly as he could without arousing suspicion - which, admittedly, for him was pretty fast. Most servants around Camelot had become accustomed to the youth's rapid pace whenever he was running late for something, and so moved out of his path without too much trouble.

Gaius jumped with a start when his ward burst in through the door. The man tried to ask what was wrong, but didn't have time before Merlin was up the steps and in his room.

"Alright," he panted, dropping his jacket and Aithusa onto the bed. "You, are going, to stay here, out, of trouble. Got it?" His answer was a small squeak as a tiny white snout poked out from within the garment. "Good."

When he tried to walk back out, however, the baby dragon launched out of the jacket and grasped onto the back of Merlin's shirt, her small claws poking holes through the cloth.

"No! Off!"

"Merlin? What's going on in there?" Gaius opened the door just in time to see Merlin reach around to grab Aithusa, spinning and twisting in place as she evaded him. "Oh dear."

As soon as the hatchling spotted the elderly man, she hissed in alarm, startling both humans as she squirmed around to hide in Merlin's arms.

"Oh sure, _now_ you're willing to hide. Gaius, what am I supposed to do?! I can't go around with a baby dragon clinging to me!"

"I don't know what to tell you, my boy. No one saw her on your way here?"

"No."

"Do you have any assignments from Arthur?"

"No, he didn't get the chance to give me any - I spotted Aithusa through a window, and managed to get Gwen to take the prat's breakfast up to him so I could go deal with- _this-_ " Getting over her fear, Aithusa had resumed her game of clambering all about Merlin's form, something the warlock was quickly becoming fed up with.

"In that case, you will remain here with your dragon. We can bring up things for you to work on in case anyone arrives unexpectedly, and as soon as nightfall comes you'll take her back to the forest."

"What about dinner? I mean, the one I'll be expected to take to Arthur." Merlin finally managed to get both his hands around Aithusa's belly, and held her firmly away from his thoroughly disheveled shirt.

"I'll send word down to the kitchens to let them know you're too busy working for me to handle it."

"Well, if you say so... I just hope none of the others stop by..."

Not ten seconds after Merlin said those damning words, there came a knock at the main door. Both he and Gaius stared at each other, even Aithusa quieting down. She let out a surprised squeak, though, when Merlin suddenly whirled around and dropped the hatchling onto his bed, throwing both the blanket and his jacket over her. The youth then sat down on the edge, summoned a needle and spool of thread to him from across the room, and pulled off his shirt to start mending it.

Gaius swiftly went out the door, closing it behind him. Just he'd gotten back to the floor of the main room, there came another, louder knock.

"Yes! Come in!" Gaius forced himself to calm down a bit, especially as the door was opened by Sir Leon.

"Good morning, Gaius," the curly haired man smiled, stepping inside. "I hate to bother you, but a couple of the squires down on the training field managed managed to knock their heads together hard enough to collapse, and I wasn't sure it would be prudent to have them walk all the way here."

"Ah, I see. Well, just give me a moment and I'll be right down." He shooed the knight back out the door before hurrying to grab his bag of essentials. The door to Merlin's room opened a crack, and the youth stuck his head out with a questioning expression. "Stay put, Merlin, I'll be back shortly."

'Shortly' wound up being several hours later, as someone else found Gaius at the training field and asked him to come check on one of his patients in town, whose illness had taken a turn for the worst. Not that Merlin knew about that, of course. He had to stay stuck in his room, alternating between a few tasks his mentor actually needed done and repairing all the items that attracted Aithusa's curiosity and were inevitably damaged when she got too rough or excited.

By afternoon, Gaius had still not returned, leaving Merlin more worried by the minute. A few different times, he'd heard the voices out in the main room, as visitors came by to check and see if anyone was there. Gwen's voice had been most noticeable, as was Gwaine's. Fortunately, none of them came up to Merlin's room, assuming that if he didn't respond then he wasn't there. The youth would feel a tad guilty whenever they left, but one look at Aithusa replaced that emotion with a mixture of relief and exasperation.

Finally, around the time it was getting dark, Gaius shuffled back in and set his things down with a weary sigh. "Merlin? I'm back."

The door to the upper room opened almost immediately, revealing a very frazzled looking young man. "I don't know where you went or what took so long, but I'm betting you had a better day than me." Taking in the small scratches marking his skin and patterns of little rips and holes all along the youth's clothes, his mentor was inclined to agree.

"Well, fortunately, it's nearly time for you to take her back-"

"Did you notify the kitchen?" Gaius winced, and that was all the answer Merlin needed. "Well, then I'd better get out of here before Ar-"

The sound of approaching boots outside the main door caused him to vanish again, and just in time. Arthur burst into the room, annoyed and wearing his shirt inside out (not that Gaius cared to mention it too him).

"Where is he?" The prince demanded.

"Not here, sire." Gaius answered him dutifully, keeping his expression carefully blank. "I needed him to work for me today, I'm afraid, and he's still not back from the last delivery in town."

"Probably stopped off at the tavern on his way back," Arthur muttered, turning to go. He paused when a noise came from Merlin's room. "What was that?"

"What was what?"

" _That,_ Gaius, that sound I just heard." Frowning at the rear staircase and the door it led up to, the prince was clearly debating whether he should go investigate or not.

"I'm afraid I didn't hear anything, sire. Perhaps you simply need to have your evening meal - shall I send for someone to fetch it for you from the kitchen?"

"I- yes, alright. Thank you, Gaius."

"Of course, Arthur." With that, Camelot's prince and ruling regent headed out, missing the Court Physician's obvious relief.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

By holding off until the dead of night to take Aithusa out the woods (where Kilgharrah was already waiting with a classic 'I told you so' expression on his face), Merlin was only able to get a few hours sleep in between his return and when he had to get up to go fetch Arthur's breakfast. He kept a wary eye on all the windows he passed, but thankfully, there were no flashes of white that caught his attention.

Arriving in the Royal Prat's room, the younger man went through his usual routine of setting out the food, yanking open the curtains, and encouraging Arthur to get up by way of all manner of teasing remarks. The prince, however, didn't respond as per usual. Instead, he seemed to be keeping a close watch on Merlin, which the manservant found more and more unnerving as it went on.

"What were you doing last night, Merlin?" Arthur asked at one point, catching the youth off guard for a moment. "When you were supposedly delivering things for Gaius in town."

"Just that," he replied after a moment. "A few bottles of medicine had to be handed out to some of his patients, that's all. I came back as soon as I was done."

"And were you doing more errands for him all day, as well? When I asked, Gwaine and Leon hadn't known where you were, and Guinevere said she hadn't seen you since morning - when you reportedly forced _her_ to deliver _my_ breakfast in _your_ place."

Merlin smirked. "How'd that go, by the way? Did she wake you up with a kiss or a slap?" Arthur's glower only got him to grin wider.

"Nevermind," the prince muttered, picking up a goblet to toss at his manservant's head. Merlin ducked it easily, and returned to tidying the room up.

The rest of the day passed in relative peace, with no small dragons to interrupt the young warlock's duties around the castle. That evening, unfortunately, he was given a bit of uneasy news.

"Do we really have to go on a hunting trip tomorrow?" He asked half-heartedly, knowing exactly what Arthur's response would be. "It hasn't even been a week since we went to that tomb! Wasn't that enough time out of doors for you to relax for a while?"

"You know as well I as I do, _Mer_ lin," Arthur smirked. "That we were on a mission then, and didn't have much in the way of relaxation at all. Besides, the kitchen staff could always use fresh meat, and don't you usually snag some herbs for Gaius when we're out there anyway?"

Grumbling, the younger man knew he wasn't in a position to argue - not without revealing his real concern - but that wasn't about to stop his muttered complaints.

The next morning, he was up even earlier than usual, retrieving Arthur's hunting gear and preparing two horses for them to ride. A couple of the stable boys also got mounts ready for Sirs Gwaine, Leon, Elyan, and Percival, since it was too dangerous for the King of Camelot to travel without his bests knights along for security's sake. Merlin, personally, just thought that Arthur had long since realized that he'd have better luck and more fun on a hunt than if only his manservant accompanied him, inevitably making noise and scaring off the game.

When the six of them set off from the castle, Merlin was happy to chat with his friends, exchanging laughter and new stories. As their group got closer to the treeline, however, the youth started to get quieter. His eyes scanned the foliage and sky alike, wary for a glimpse of white dragonhide. He dearly hoped that Kilgharrah had managed to get Aithusa far enough away she wouldn't be able to return to Camelot any time soon, but a voice in the back of his mind (that sounded suspiciously like Gaius) reminded him how such hopes usually turned out.

From morning until mid-afternoon, things went well. Arthur shot a pheasant, Elyan caught a pair of rabbits with his snares, and Gwaine amused everyone by wasting nearly a dozen arrows trying to shoot a rather plump yet wickedly fast squirrel.

Then Percival gestured for silence, asking if anyone else could hear something he'd noticed. Merlin paled when he picked up the sound: a high-pitched chirping, in the treetops, coming closer.

"What _is_ that?" Arthur wondered aloud, his eyes narrowing. The prince placed another bolt in his crossbow, gazing up at the branches.

Spotting a nearby movement, Merlin chose that moment to trip on a conveniently placed log, dropping gear and dead game, and crashing into the backs of Arthur's shins. It was with an undignified yelp that the blonde collapsed on top of his manservant, causing the knights around them to all burst out laughing. Merlin, despite groaning from the pair of hard landings, was glad that he was the only one to notice the white figure bounding through the branches above them. The brush of Aithusa's mind against his own was surprising, but he quickly took the opportunity to mentally encourage her to stay put.

The dragonling did so, watching curiously as Leon and Elyan helped their fallen comrades up while Percival gathered the items Merlin dropped, each of them all the while reassuring Arthur that he of course did not let out something as un-manly as a yelp when being knocked over by his servant. Even as their king glared, though, they all continued to wear utterly unrepentant grins. Gwaine, off to one side, didn't stop laughing for a good five minutes.

As the sunlight dimmed and the evening air started to get nippier, Arthur made the decision to go ahead and get a campsite set up. (Well, really, he ordered Merlin to go ahead and do so, while he and the knights skinned and stored their game.) As soon as no one was looking, the youth glared up at Aithusa, who'd continued to follow him around by leaping from one tree to another. She squeaked, the tiny mental link between them expressing confusion and dismay, which had Merlin reluctantly toning down his frustration a bit.

He surprised the others by volunteering to take first watch, but passed it off as wanting some time to mend a new rip in his sleeve before bed.

Arthur rolled his eyes at that. "The whole point of being on watch is actually _watch your surroundings,_ idiot."

"Can't I simply listen to my surroundings while mending, clotpole? I mean, anyone foolish enough to try and sneak up on us is bound to make a noise before they become visible, anyway-"

"Merlin?" The young man was distracted by Percival's questioning tone. "Why do you have so many new mends in your shirt and pants?" The rest of the knights squinted at that, and even in the dim lighting were each able to determine that, yes, Merlin's clothes seemed to have a great many more patched tears in them than a few days before.

"...Cats."

"Cats?"

"The other night, when I was delivering those medicines, one of them contained an ingredient that's irresistible to cats, and some of it leaked onto me. I had to fight off a swarm of them in order to finish and get back to the keep." It was a struggle for Merlin to keep his expression as honest as possible.

Slowly, Arthur shook his head, staring at the younger man in disbelief. "Honestly, Merlin, you have to be one of the most pathetic examples of mankind I have ever known. Getting waylaid by a bunch of _cats?_ "

"With very sharp claws! I'm lucky these clothes were still mendable at all by the time I got to safety! And that I was able to wash the scent out!"

Needless to say, the teasing carried on for a long while, with Merlin alternating feeling amused that they'd actually bought his silly lie and frustrated at constantly needing to have little outbursts in order to distract the others when Aithusa chirped or jumped to a new branch overhead.

By the time his friends turned in for the night, he was very, _very_ grateful that none of them had ever looked up during the course of the evening.

After setting up a sort of tripwire spell that would let him know if anyone tried approaching the camp, Merlin called Aithusa down to him and set off to meet with Kilgharrah.

...Again.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

For a whole month, things continued on in this pattern: Aithusa would slip away from Kilgharrah's care, make her way to Camelot, and terrify Merlin over whether anyone would notice her presence or not until he could sneak off in the dead of night to return her to the older dragon waiting in the forest. The absolute _worst_ was the occasion she found him out on patrol with the knights, and Merlin spent the entire course of the day making periodic spectacles of himself in order to distract anyone whose attention was drawn by the unknown chirping in the trees around them. Arthur, in particular, kept giving him odd looks, as if he knew the dark-haired man was up to something but couldn't puzzle out why or what. For an entire week afterward, the king kept asking questions about what Merlin had been up to in his spare time lately, even making a couple mentions regarding Borden and the Tomb that set the servant on edge as he struggled to remember and stick to the lies he'd already told.

Exactly thirty-three nights after he first hatched her, Merlin carried Aithusa to the usual clearing for perhaps the twenty-fifth or -sixth time (honestly, he'd become so tired over the month he'd lost track of the exact number). Kilgharrah took the hatchling without a word, whereas Aithusa herself was projecting the usual mixture of unhappiness and expectation.

"I know I always say it," Merlin mumbled as he gave the little one a scratch underneath her chin. "But _please_ stay away this time." With that, he turned and headed back towards Camelot, ignoring the wind generated by Kilgharrah taking off and the lonely cry that trailed behind.

Arriving in the castle well after midnight, Merlin had to stop by the armory to finish polishing Arthur's armor, and fetch an armload of firewood for Gaius on his way to the physician's quarters. Once there, he carefully stowed the load away before tip-toeing up to his room and collapsing.

At some point, his mind began to rouse due to the sunlight pouring in through the window, but the young man ignored it and stayed put.

When a knock came from the door a while later, Merlin didn't bother responding to that either, or even moving. He remained sprawled across his bed, physically and mentally exhausted, still wearing the same outfit as the previous two days.

Of course, his lack of acknowledgement just meant that whoever was at the door went ahead and came in, footsteps tromping over to his bedside before pausing. Not Gaius, then, as the old man was always much more quiet in his approach. Merlin mentally ran down the list of who else would want to seek out his presence, and hazarded his best guess.

"Go 'way, Gwaine, 'm too tired t' help you with anythin' t'day..."

"Well, this certainly explains why my breakfast never arrived." _That_ particular voice definitely did not belong to the ridiculously cheerful knight. Turning his head sideways, Merlin squinted up at Arthur, who seemed to be holding back a mixture of amusement and annoyance.

"Uh..."

"Good morning to you too, _Mer_ lin." The blonde grabbed the nearby chair and pulled it over, taking a seat while his manservant continued to stare blankly. "So, tell me something. After that mess at Ashkanar, you said that Borden was dead and the egg destroyed. Right?"

"Right..." Reluctantly, Merlin pushed himself up onto his forearms, looking wary.

"And, by 'destroyed', you didn't by any chance mean that the egg cracked, and something living crawled out of it?" The younger man's eyes widened, almost to a comical degree, and he tried to stammer out a denial. One look of warning from Arthur was quick to shut him up though. "Merlin. You are going to answer me truthfully in this. Are you or are you not attempting to raise a baby dragon in my castle?"

"She keeps coming BACK!" Merlin cried out, his pain and exasperation causing the blonde to jerk in surprise. "Every night, I take her out into the forest, as far as I can, but then she shows back up - outside the windows, or on patrol or when you insist on a hunting trip - and no matter what I try she just won't. Go. Away!" With that, he flopped back down onto the bed, crossing his arms over his head and groaning in frustration, the potential consequences of what had just been said be damned.

Arthur blinked at him, still trying to make sense of the babbled explanation. He'd really only partially suspected his servant of attempting something so stupid, and honestly hoped that upon accusing Merlin of harboring a dragon he'd get an indignant retort followed by a few insults to his intelligence. Instead, the younger man admitted that his suspicions weren't unfounded in the slightest after all.

"Well, where is it then?" He finally demanded.

"Where's what?"

"The _dragon_ , _Mer_ lin. Honestly, how you managed to pull off such a thing for so long when you're still an idiot is beyond me..."

"She's not here right now," the servant uncovered his head with a weary sigh. "But she'll be back. She keeps coming back, again and again and again and-"

"I get it." Arthur hastily cut it. "So, you didn't actually decide to raise the creature? It just keeps, what, haunting you?"

"It's not safe here for her," Merlin mumbled. "But I can't make her understand that, that she'll be killed if anyone spots her..."

"Why didn't you just come tell me, then? I could've put out the order to leave the dragon alone."

Instantly, Merlin's head snapped up. He stared at Arthur in shock, hardly daring to hope he'd just heard what he thought he did. "W-what?"

"Honestly, Merlin, it's just a baby. If it hatched in your presence, I can't say I'm surprised the thing imprinted on you." Arthur smirked. "Just like a chick and mother hen, after all."

"But- but- what about when she grows up?"

"Well I don't know, do you think you could train such a creature to defend Camelot instead of destroy it?"

"Yes!" It took a few moments to wrap his head around it, but as soon as he did Merlin beamed. "Yes, I can teach her, I swear."

"Good. Then, as long as it doesn't cause trouble, the dragon can stay-" Even as he said the words, Arthur was distracted by a scuffle at the window. Turning to look, the man was taken aback at the sight of a cat-sized, white creature attempting to claw its way in.

"Aithusa! Stop, hold on, I'm coming-!" Merlin scrambled off of his bed, nearly falling over in the process, before hurrying over to the window and yanking it open. The dragon immediately tumbled into the room, chirping enthusiastically as she clung to Merlin's jacket and got herself situated upon his shoulder. Arthur watched with his jaw hanging slack as his manservant proceeded to _cuddle_ the creature, murmuring soft assurances as his fingers stroked down delicate legs and wings.

Clearly, it was just as good he'd decided to let the little beast live, seeing as Merlin had already gone and bonded with the bloody thing...

-BA-

It only took Gwen ten minutes to warm up to Aithusa.

"Oh she's just _adorable!"_ the woman exclaimed, running her fingers along all the right spots to turn the dragonling into a purring puddle. Off to one side, Merlin grinned, both at the two of them and Arthur's disbelieving expression.

"It's a dragon, Guinevere - that's the opposite of adorable or cute or any other similar description."

"Don't listen to the big bad king," Gwen cooed as she stroked Aithusa's wings. "He wouldn't know cuteness if it walked up and bit him on the nose."

"I would too!" Arthur protested, ignoring Merlin's amused snort. Aithusa chirped, sprawling even more loosely in Gwen's lap and looking more smug than a cat taunting the hounds from atop their kennel. "Maybe this was a mistake..."

"Oh, come on Arthur," Merlin piped up, fighting back a yawn as he did so. "You're just jealous Gwen doesn't pay that sort of attention to _you_."

"I am not! I'm simply- it's- well-"

"Merlin," Gwen interrupted with a frown. "When was the last time you got a decent night's sleep?"

The dark-haired man grimaced at that. "Honestly? Not since before Aithusa hatched, I don't think. Even on the nights I didn't have to take her back to the forest, I'd still lie awake worrying about her."

"Of course you did," Arthur muttered under his breath, before sighing. "Alright then, Merlin, I'm giving you today off."

"...You're what?"

"I know you aren't _that_ hard of hearing, _Mer_ lin. Today, you're going to just focus on your baby dragon, while I spread the word that it's to be left alone. I'll make sure to send the knights by to get the same introduction as Guinevere, and tomorrow we'll let you show her to the council." Merlin beamed at him, and Arthur let his lips twitch into a small grin in reply. "Now, thanks to a certain lazy manservant sleeping in, I'm going to go get my breakfast for the day. Will you join me later, Guinevere?"

"Of course, Arthur. I'm just going to spend a little more time with Aithusa first."

"You do know she isn't a pet cat, right?" Merlin asked with no little amusement. Arthur paused briefly on his way to the door at hearing that, before shaking his head and continuing out.

Not much later, after a conversation about what young dragons needed in the ways of food and exercise, Gwen encouraged Merlin to lay down for a bit. He did so, reluctant but unable to deny the growing frequency of his yawns, and was asleep within moments. Seeing this, Aithusa rolled herself upright and jumped from Gwen's lap to the bed, where she promptly curled up against Merlin's shoulder, her head resting on his chest above his heart. Guinevere smiled at the sight, watching them for a few minutes, before she got up and quietly departed.

Down in the main room, Gaius and Arthur were in a hushed discussion, though both looked up at her appearance.

"He's asleep now, and Aithusa too." She murmured softly, shutting the door behind her. "How in the world did he manage to keep her a secret for as long as he did?"

"Sheer dumb luck." Arthur rolled his eyes before focusing on the physician. "And at least a bit of help too, I'd wager."

Gaius sighed. "Yes, sire, I knew about Aithusa, and covered for Merlin a few times when he needed to keep her hidden or sneak out to the forest yet again."

"Then do you know why he decided to raise the bloody thing instead of- no, never mind, Merlin can't even bring himself to kill anything on a hunt, let alone a creature that's actually dangerous. But why wouldn't he _tell_ me?"

"Fear, Arthur. It's not been so long since the Great Dragon's attacks that you or anyone else would take the hatching of the last dragon egg well. And Merlin is bound to protect Aithusa, whether he'd otherwise want to or not."

"What are you talking about, Gaius?" Gwen frowned as she moved to lean against Arthur's side, his hand automatically coming up to wrap around her shoulders.

Sighing again, the old physician glanced at the closed bedroom door before continuing. "It used to be well-known that Dragonlord powers were passed from father to son upon the father's death. Balinor... Before taking refuge as far from civilization as possible, he'd hidden from the Great Purge in a small village, just across the border, by the name of Ealdor."

Arthur abruptly stiffened. "Gaius... Please tell me you're not saying what I think you're saying."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

When Gwaine heard the news, it took a minute for him to do more than stare blankly at Arthur. "...I beg you pardon? Merlin has a _what?"_

"A baby dragon. Apparently instead of that egg being destroyed, it hatched, the infant imprinted on Merlin and keeps seeking him out. They're both in his room right now-" The king didn't get a chance to finish before Gwaine took off down the hall, laughing his head off on the way to Gaius's chambers. A dragon! A real live baby dragon! And Arthur was letting Merlin keep it!

Gwaine distantly wondered if it would be big enough to ride anytime soon. He'd always wondered what it was like to fly.

He rushed up the stairs of the tower and burst into the physician's abode with a wide grin. It didn't dim even in the face of the raised eyebrow he received, seeing as Gaius sighed and nodded for him to continue up to the back room. Some little piece of common sense that yet persisted in Gwaine's mind had him approaching a bit more slowly, as he didn't think throwing the bedroom door open and startling a dragon, even if it was a baby, would be such a good idea.

Knocking on the door, the knight waited a moment before pushing it open and poking his head inside. On the bed, Merlin was out cold, snoring lightly as he slept atop his blanket. The little white creature curled up beside him, though, had picked its head up, and was watching Gwaine intently.

"Hello there," he whispered, fully entering and closing the door behind him. The dragon didn't react as he carefully stepped closer, only rising to its own feet when Gwaine got within arm's reach. Then it crawled up onto Merlin's chest, spread its wings out a bit, and snorted.

"No need to be defensive!" Gwaine protested in a whisper-yell, tugging the chair a bit closer so he could sit down and be a bit more eye-level with the little thing. "I'm a good friend of Merlin's, I promise he'll vouch for me."

The dragon cocked its head to one side at that, before twisting around to peer at the younger man. After a moment's consideration, it pulled its tail around to start poking Merlin in the cheek.

Gwaine was hard-pressed not to burst out laughing.

It took several minutes of determined poking, first with the dragon's tail and then its claws, to get Merlin to stir. The young man groaned, rolling onto his side and dislodging the baby, who squeaked in indignation.

"Now now, Merlin, that's just rude." Merlin's eyes snapped open, and flicked between Gwaine and the annoyed dragon several times before he groaned, draping an arm over his face.

"I could've sworn it was Gwen in here when I laid down," he mumbled.

"Maybe so, but now you've got me! Now, I demand to hear the entire insane story of how you came to get Queenie to agree to let you keep such a magnificent little beast in his castle." Gwaine's smile widened as the dragon perked up and preened.

"Oh that's done it. You're going to be one of her favorite people if you keep that flattery up."

"Good! Now come on, storytime."

"You are such a child. Fine. Do you want the entire tale, or the edited version I gave to Arthur?"

Gwaine shot him an uncharacteristically serious look. "You didn't lie to him, did you?"

"I lie to him all the time, Gwaine," Merlin said bitterly. "This particular time I only left out a few things." A moment later, it seemed the young man realized exactly what he said, and he glanced at the knight apprehensively. "Um. You won't tell him that I...?"

"Your secret's safe with me, mate. _All_ your secrets." His words reassured Merlin, at least temporarily, until he noted the plural, which caused a confused expression to appear. "'Courage is going to need Strength and _Magic_ in order to succeed,' remember?"

Merlin paled.

-BA-

"Sire," Leon said slowly when Arthur finished his explanation. "Are you sure this is a wise course of action?"

"Not in the slightest," the king sighed. He took a moment to look the other man in the eye, attempting to convey some meager form of reassurance. "But Gaius has informed me that Merlin is the Last Dragonlord, and apparently, that means he has the same level of responsibility to protect the last dragon as I do to protect Camelot. And Merlin himself swears he'll teach the creature to guard the kingdom, rather than burn it to the ground."

Leon's frown deepened. "...Was Merlin a Dragonlord when we rode out to have a final battle with the Great Dragon?"

Arthur opened his mouth to answer, but paused. "That- I don't- well, I suppose he must have been."

"I hate to bring this up Sire, but, if that's the case, can we be sure the beast was killed at all?"

-BA-

Elyan choked when Gwen gave him the news, Percival freezing beside them. "Merlin has a _what?_ And Arthur's actually letting him _keep it?!"_

"Her name is Aithusa, and she's an absolute sweetheart," Gwen said primly.

"It's a dragon!"

"A baby dragon, Elyan, one that's going to grow up learning to protect the city. And even if she does start to develop bad habits, Merlin will make sure to send her far away where she won't bother anyone."

"I can't believe you're saying that. _Dragon_ , Gwen! Fire-breathing magical monster! _What was Arthur thinking?!"_

"There's more to it, isn't there?" Percival interrupted, gently setting a hand on Elyan's shoulder to calm him down. Gwen sighed.

"Yes, there's a lot more to it."

-BA-

Aithusa squeaked unhappily as Merlin wiped the tears off of his face. Gwaine had long since abandoned the chair in order to sit beside his friend on the bed, one arm wrapped tightly around the younger man's thin shoulders as he grieved. The knight could remember being upset as well when his own father died, but at least he hadn't seen the deed in person, or been the one being protected when it happened. In the back of his mind, Gwaine wondered if Merlin had been able to cry on _anyone's_ shoulder when Balinor was killed. Certainly not Arthur's, that was for sure.

"So, oh-most-powerful-Dragonlord-who-secretly-saved-the-kingdom," he said once his friend calmed down a bit. "Now that we've got all the sorry details of that particular story out of the way, want to tell me anything else I should know?"

From there, Merlin tentatively got into the prophecy the Great Dragon told him about, the one concerning Emrys and The Once and Future King. That led into a brief recounting of the other assorted magical monsters and threats he'd fought over the years to keep Arthur safe, including a very different version of events concerning Uther's death.

"I'd hoped to prove to Arthur magic could be used for good," Merlin mumbled, "but instead I went and threw all hope of _that_ down the well."

"It's why you stick around, isn't it - trying to work towards getting Queenie to repeal the ban on magic."

"Well, that was the start of it, I guess. But after a while, I started seeing the good man he is, the great king he'll be. Now, I just want to keep him alive, for Camelot's sake."

"Hmph." Gwaine ruffled Merlin's hair at that. "You, my friend, are a sap. Protecting royal prats, hatching baby dragons, is there any good deed you won't go out of your way to do?"

"Apparently not," the servant replied with a small grin. That happy expression vanished a few moments later, though, as they heard the sound of the door slamming open out in the main room.

Heavily tromping feet approached, and then it was the door to Merlin's room which was thrown open, revealing a very irate Arthur.

"Don't tell me I've done something wrong now, I haven't even gotten off my bed since you left!" Merlin protested before the king had a chance to say anything.

"What happened with the Great Dragon, Merlin?" Arthur growled. He stomped closer, while Gwen and the rest of the knights crowded in the doorway behind him. "As in, what _really_ happened, not the story you told me. Considering that I now know you were already a Dragonlord at the time, _bound to protect all dragons."_

Merlin's jaw dropped. "I didn't tell you that!"

"No, Gaius did. About you, about Balinor, all of it!"

"Right," Gwaine interrupted when Merlin slumped and Aithusa clambered up onto his shoulder, rubbing her head against the young man's chin. "That's enough out of you. Outside, now."

"What- Gwaine!" Taken by surprise, Arthur didn't have a chance to push back when the knight shoved him out and into the crowd on the stairs. Pulling the door shut behind him to give Merlin some privacy, Gwaine glared at the lot of them.

"One thing you lot need to get into your heads right now - Merlin's had to put up with a great deal more shite than any of us realized before, most of which tends to pull him in several different directions at once. And he's scared of telling anyone about all of it, because apparently when he freely shares, the people he does so with end up dead. Like Lancelot." They all flinched at that. "So, when he explains about what really happened with the dragon, Arthur, you are _not_ going to pitch a fit. Nor are any of you going to push that Merlin share more than he's comfortable with - he'll do so only when he thinks it's safe, for himself _and_ us as well. Got it?"

Stunned by the serious speech they'd just been treated to, the group of five each nodded or agreed in turn. It was a greatly subdued Arthur who re-entered the room, to see Merlin curled into a ball on the bed, with his arms wrapped around Aithusa and his face tucked against her hide, shoulders quivering.

"Merlin," he said quietly. "I'm sorry about your father."

-BA-

When Gaius returned to his chambers some time later, he was rather alarmed to find Arthur, Gwen, Gwaine, Percival, Leon, and Elyan all gathered in Merlin's room as the young man told them about Kilgharrah. Instead of interrupting, however, the physician hovered at the base of the stairs for a while, listening and watching.

What he observed was, simply put, astounding.

Arthur in particular was listening to Merlin's words with a thoughtful expression on his face, clearly absorbing all that was said without reacting in a typical, furious fashion.

Perhaps Gaius made the right call after all by informing the king about a portion of Merlin's secret responsibilities. He wondered what else would come of his boy opening up more and more to those he trusted.

In the meantime, Aithusa looked quite pleased with herself, perched upon the shoulder of her Lord. Gaius entertained a vague notion that the hatchling thought she deserved credit for the event, as it was, in a way, a direct result of her constant returns to Merlin.

-BA-

The other members of the Royal Council, unsurprisingly, did not take well the presence of another dragon in Camelot, even if it was a tiny baby not yet capable of breathing flame.

Servants throughout the castle were put on edge by the knowledge as well, though at least the majority of them were familiar with and trusted Merlin to some degree, and trusted the young king as well.

When word reached lower town, there was practically a riot before Arthur went out to calm his people, the Round Table knights beside him. Gaius, too, made a short speech, claiming that if raised properly, the young dragon would become a great defender of Camelot, something indispensable if they were attacked again by Morgana or any other invasion force. By the time night fell, people returned to their homes still disgruntled, but no longer making ready to storm the castle and demand the beast's death.

The next morning, Merlin fetched Arthur's breakfast from the kitchens with Aithusa riding on his shoulders.

Everyone within the large room came to a halt when they spotted her, which caused Merlin's face to grow rather red as he collected the platter of food for the king and a bread roll for himself. As he was turning to depart again, however, a call caused him to pause.

"Is it going to need any special food?" The head cook, a rather robust and fearsome woman, asked. She looked uncharacteristically nervous.

Merlin shrugged as best he was able. "A plate of meat scraps at mealtime, perhaps the odd egg now and then. And that's only until she's big enough to hunt for herself in the forest."

"What's it going to hunt?" One of the more curious scullery maids asked before he could go.

"Squirrels, rabbits, birds, just small things for a long time. Maybe deer in a few more years."

"How fast is it going to grow? Will we need to worry about supplementing its hunts from our stores?"

"Well, um, I'm not exactly sure. It'll be a long time before she gets bigger than a horse, though - the Great Dragon was only so large after centuries of slow growth. As for food out of the castle's supply, I don't think that'll be necessary except in bad weather, when she can't be out flying around." Merlin made his escape then before more kitchen servants could overcome their apprehension and voice further questions. He didn't think Arthur would appreciate a late breakfast just because he'd been satisfying people's curiosity.

"Don't tell anyone," he said to Aithusa as they trekked through the halls, ignoring various worried glances and whispers. "But when I'm on time, this is actually my favorite time of day. Getting Arthur out of bed is always fun... Well, at least until he starts assigning chores and being his usual not-so-charming self, the prat. But until then I tend to enjoy it-"

Coming around a corner, Merlin had to halt abruptly, for Arthur's uncle Agravaine was standing in his path with a dark scowl.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Coming around a corner, Merlin had to halt abruptly, for Arthur's uncle Agravaine was standing in his path with a dark scowl.

The middle-aged lord shot Aithusa a look of distaste before focusing on the servant. "You aren't planning on taking _thing_ into the king's presence, I hope."

"Um..."

"It's only a matter of time before he orders it to be killed, anyway."

"That's not true!" Merlin protested, before adding a hasty, "My lord."

"Hm." Agravaine continued to eye the both of them with a calculating glint that Merlin did not like in the slightest. "If I come to suspect you plan on having the beast attack Arthur-"

"You _won't,_ because I'm _not."_

"Mind your tone, boy. And mind how you handle your pet monster, too." With that, the man spun on his heel and departed, leaving a fuming Merlin just barely restraining Aithusa from leaping forward to attack.

"Don't mind him," a quiet voice said at his elbow, causing the young man to jump in surprise. The maid who'd stepped close smiled sadly. "We might not know what to make of your dragon just yet, Merlin, but everyone knows you'd never betray Arthur."

"...Thanks, Laurel," Merlin offered the woman a tired grin, before setting off again on his way to Arthur's chambers.

Finally reaching his destination, the young man nodded towards his king's snoozing form, giving Aithusa a little mental nudge as he did so. She took the hint, shifted in place on his shoulder for a minute, then finally leapt off as Merlin started setting out the prat's breakfast.

Apparently, the weight of a small dragon suddenly landing on one's midsection serves as a good wake-up call, as Arthur instantly bolted upright with a startled yelp.

The following conversation/one-sided shouting match was greatly enjoyed by the hatchling, as she trotted back and forth on the floor or flapped through the air between them. Neither man paid her too much mind, focusing instead on their usual morning routine, at least up until Arthur was dressed, eating his food, and slipping Aithusa one of his sausages when Merlin wasn't looking.

"So," the king said slowly. "What sort of reactions have you been getting this morning?"

"Lots of nervous looks, though at least a few of the cooks and kitchen maids asked questions about her eating habits. Oh, and your uncle seems to be under the impression I might be preparing to have Aithusa attack and kill you-"

"He what?"

Briefly, Merlin summarized the unpleasant encounter with Agravaine, which had Aithusa hunkering down sadly on the table and Arthur scowling.

"I'll talk to him, then. Make it clear that even with a young dragon and Dragonlord powers, I know you'd never betray me."

The younger man shot him a beaming smile. "Damn right I wouldn't."

-BA-

Over the course of the following week, people in the castle gradually began warming up to Aithusa's presence. She won the cooks over with her table manners of all things, and the other servants were delighted when a story made the rounds about her trying to assist in cleaning up a spilled basket of laundry one day. It also helped that the baby dragon never went anywhere without Merlin, who continued to be his usual cheerful self, working hard to put people at ease.

More than a few nobles voiced their concerns over whether a mere manservant would be able to properly train the beast, and with Merlin's reluctant permission Arthur let out the secret that his manservant was the last Dragonlord who'd _really_ been the one to drive away the Great Dragon from Camelot.

That information caused at least a few members of the council to distrust him even more, but others, and one in particular, did the opposite. Geoffrey of Monmouth cornered him one afternoon, wanting to know if Merlin would be available to assist him with something in the library. Once there, the old historian headed straight for a bookcase with a false back, out of which he pulled a thick tome decorated with three dragons on the front: one blue, one red, one gold. He handed it to Merlin, who started to flip through and was rather astounded to find detailed records of dragons and dragonlords, stretching back for centuries: marriages, mate ties, births, hatching dates, battles, deaths, house crests, clan names, lineages, political alliances and disagreements, and all sorts of other information.

"I thought this was only done for nobles!"

"Ah, but before the Purge, the Dragonlords _were_ nobles, and of course we could not document them without their dragons, could we." Geoffrey smiled at Merlin's obvious delight, as well as the way Aithusa leaned down from the young man's shoulder in order to sniff delicately at the dusty book. "Now, if you'll turn your attention to this page in particular, I think we need to add another piece to the Ambrosius family line."

Looking at the lineage chart Geoffrey indicated, Merlin felt his grin grow a bit wistful, seeing his father's name inscribed on the paper. Setting the tome down on a nearby table, he accepted a quill and inkpot from the old historian, but hesitated before actually marking the page.

"My parents, they weren't- I mean, they never- he had to leave before they could-"

"I can recall," Geoffrey gently interrupted, "That the use of marriage ceremonies by the Dragonlords was a custom only adopted when they began to become truly a part of the royal courts with which they worked. Originally, though, they loved and lived like their dragons, choosing a mate to remain loyal to, who counted as their spouse even without use of terms like 'husband' and 'wife'. I daresay that can count with Balinor and your mother as well."

Smile returning, Merlin went ahead and wrote down _Hunith,_ connected to Balinor with a horizontal line. And beneath them, at the bottom of a different line, went his own name.

"Excellent! Now, of course we must add a new entry about Aithusa's hatching, there are some blank pages towards the back..."

-BA-

Those within the castle slowly came to accept Aithusa's presence at Merlin's side and Arthur's firm orders to leave the both of them be. The stories about them spread to lower town, naturally, and also put the fears of some there to rest as well.

Others, though... Well, the first time Merlin made a trip down to the market with Aithusa riding on his shoulders, some others decided to take matters into their own hands.

Arthur was on his way back from taking a stroll around the training field with Guinevere when Elyan came sprinting up to them, wearing an expression of panic that the king did not like one bit. "What's wrong?" He demanded as soon as the knight reached them.

"Merlin, in town, attacked," Elyan gasped out, doubled over with his hands on his knees as he struggled to get his breath back. "Aithusa-"

"Where in town, Elyan?"

"Market, back alley- Percival's there-"

Gwen shot Arthur a concerned look. "I'll go fetch the others, you get to Merlin."

"Right." Without another word, the king hurried off, not bothering to ask Elyan exactly where his manservant was. People quickly cleared a path as he ran for the market, eyes and ears both searching intently for any sign of the attack. Spotting a small crowd at the entrance to an alleyway between houses, Arthur altered his path towards them.

"Step aside!" He barked. Quite a few of the townspeople jumped, and those who turned and saw him hurried to obey the order, tugging on the shirts of those around them to encourage further movement. Over the sounds of their murmurs and mutterings, Aithusa's upset cries could just barely be heard, spurring the king onward. Pushing through the remaining cluster of people, Arthur finally reached a spot where he could see Percival crouched protectively over Merlin's prone form.

The dark-haired man was unconscious, his face and hands marred with blood and already-developing bruises. Aithusa huddled in between him and Percival's feet, the finger bones of one of her wings obviously broken. Fury mounting by the moment, Arthur knelt beside the three of them, one hand reaching to gather up Aithusa while the other hovered over a lump on the back of Merlin's skull. "What happened?"

"They did," Percival growled, jerking his head in the direction of four men lying in a heap further down the alley. Arthur couldn't tell if they were dead or merely knocked out, but at that particular moment in time he did not care.

"As soon as more knights arrive, I want you to take charge of seeing to it that those four are taken to the dungeons and questioned," he ordered. "I'll join you there once Merlin and Aithusa are safe with Gaius."

Percival nodded, right as Gwaine, Elyan, and five of the castle guards arrived on the scene. Standing with Aithusa held carefully in his arms, Arthur had the two knights support Merlin between them, and set three of the guards to help arrest the attackers while the remaining pair acted as front- and rear-guard for the king and his men. The crowd, which had grown even larger in the few minutes since Arthur's arrival, swiftly parted to allow them access to leave. Ignoring the stares and hushed words, the king marched along carrying his servant's dragon and making plans to ensure nothing else happened to his friend.

He'd known from the outset that allowing Aithusa into their lives would increase the size of the target on Merlin's back, but hoped that in Camelot, at least, the young man would be able to go about his business in peace.

Obviously, Arthur's hope had been in vain.

-BA-

"That monster needs to be put to death," the man spat, glaring at Arthur, Leon, and Percival. "The big one almost destroyed us all, and when this little one grows up, it'll do the same!"

The king's eyes narrowed. "And you four decided you were the ones best suited to the job."

"Well you and your men clearly aren't, Sire, seein' as the beast's already corrupted everyone in this castle!" Each of the arrested men had said the same thing, with varying amounts of fear and disgust. The first had tried appealing to Arthur, claiming that they'd only had the desire to protect their home, while the other two cited revenge for loved ones lost during the Great Dragon's attack as their reason for ambushing Merlin and Aithusa. This last man, though, seemed too furious to give any excusable answer for his actions.

Deciding that they'd gotten all pertinent information, Arthur started to turn to go. Before stepped all the way out of the cell, though, he paused just long enough to inform the prisoner of one final thing.

"That _infant_ dragon, and the man raising her, are under _my_ protection, just as they intend to protect Camelot in future. If you or anyone else attempt to hurt or kill them again, the consequences will be much more severe than a year-long imprisonment." With that, he strode away, the two knights close on his heels.

Coming out of the dungeons, Arthur nearly groaned when he spotted his decidedly unhappy looking uncle approaching. "Agravaine. Is something the matter?"

"I wish to speak with you Sire, concerning the matter of the punishment for the men who went after the dragon."

Folding his arms, Arthur took up a relaxed stance. "Speak, then."

Frowning, Agravaine glanced at Percival, then Leon, then the hall around them, and raised his eyebrows significantly at the king. "In private, perhaps?"

"Uncle, please speak your piece now, as I intend to check on Merlin and Aithusa as soon as possible and taking the time to return to my quarters for us to talk will not help with that."

"Of course, Sire," the older man sighed. "I have heard you intend to keep the men locked up in the dungeons for a year's time, as well as to force them to leave the city when that time is up?"

"Correct."

"But surely, Sire, that is unnecessarily excessive, especially when these four peasants were simply acting in what they thought to be their kingdom's best interests! Protecting Camelot from a dangerous magical creature is, after all, a noble endeavor..."

Arthur's eyes narrowed. "Magical or not, Aithusa is a baby, incapable of properly defending herself. And attacking Merlin at the same time is inexcusable. The only reason I've not outright banished the men, Uncle, is because I don't want any of them to return in secret to try and finish what they started."

"Banishment! Honestly, Arthur, why so much fuss over a servant and the creature he may very well order to attack us someday? Sentimentality does not make for a strong king-"

"Enough. I won't hear anymore of this, Uncle, and I won't tolerate any attacks upon Merlin nor Aithusa either. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

-BA-

Groaning as he drifted back to awareness, Merlin tried to recall just why he had a pounding pain threatening to split his head in half. He didn't bother opening his eyes just yet, instead lying still and just listening while memories sorted themselves out.

 _Aithusa chirping excitedly as she looked all around the market, nearly falling off his shoulders and she turned and wriggled in an effort to absorb absolutely everything._

 _Aithusa screeching in alarm when two men bumped into him, knocking him towards a gap between two houses were a couple other strangers were waiting._

 _Pain when a fist slammed into his jaw, pain when Aithusa's wing was roughly grabbed and stomped on, pain when he wrapped himself around her and took the brunt of the kicks, pain even when the attacks stopped and furious shouts rang out-_

"Mer?" A small, warm snout nudged his ear. "Mer-mer?"

"Merlin?" He felt Gaius run a hand over his hair, and Merlin finally forced his eyelids open.

"Well," the young man sighed. "That wasn't how I thought my morning would go."

"I _told_ you it was foolish to take Aithusa along, but you've never listened to me before, so why start now? Honestly, you're exceptionally lucky you only sustained bruises and cuts before the knights arrived to save your skin..." Merlin sighed as Gaius continued to berate him, his eyes slowly sliding shut again.

"Mer-mer." Aithusa nudged him again, and it was then that he realized she was making a different noise than her usual chirp. Sucking in a startled breath, Merlin turned his head in order to stare at the little dragon, who was watching him expectantly.

"Aithusa, did you just...?"

"Mer-mer!"

Gaius jumped when Merlin suddenly whooped.

 _A/N: Eh. Still not entirely happy with this chapter, but I'll post it anyway._

 _So, a bit of news! In an attempt to retain some measure of sanity as we get closer and closer to Final Exams week, I've actually started watching the full episodes of Merlin on Netflix! Huzzah!_

 _...Sadly, there are portions just as painfully embarrassing to watch as I'd been expecting, so rather than binge (as my friend and neighbor who is an all around Utter Geek suggests) I find myself watching one episode at a time every other night or so. Such a pattern is not conducive for bulldozing my way through to Season Four, which is what I kinda need to see in order to properly write this particular story going forward._

 _In light of that, I decided to skip ahead, and started watching His Father's Son - and promptly wondered, what in God's name made Arthur willing to risk Merlin's life as bait? As far as canon goes, I expect it boils down to Merlin being a persistent little bugger who wouldn't take 'no' for an answer, probably with Aggravating Agravaine agreeing with the idea in the background._

 _As far as_ this _tale, on the other hand... Well, you'll just have to wait and see what I came up with, won't you? 'Til next time,_

 _-Triscribe_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Arthur had, unfortunately since his decision regarding Aithusa, come to expect Merlin using her to 'help' him wake the young king up in the mornings. It was not pleasant to have small dragon claws kneading at the skin of his face, though perhaps that was slightly better than being bodily hauled out of his bed and dumped on the cold stone floor by his manservant.

On the fourth morning since he and his men had set out from Camelot to track down a dangerous band of marauders, however, Arthur was woken up by Aithusa alone. It took him a minute to realize this, once the little dragon got over her indignant squawking at being shoved aside, and then a cold knot of fear settled in his guts.

"Aithusa, where's Merlin?" He demanded.

The baby cocked her head to one side. "Mer-mer?"

"Yes, Merlin, my idiot manservant and your- whatever he is to you. Where is he?" Before Aithusa could cobble together some sort of answer from her limited vocabulary, a bit of shouting just outside his tent attracted Arthur's attention. He got to his feet and pulled the entrance flap aside, just as Gwaine raced up. "What's going on?"

"Merlin's gone," the long-haired knight panted, looking frantic. "And Sir Gareth's armor and cape are missing."

Cursing, Arthur ducked back into his tent, but not before ordering Gwaine to get everyone up and ready at the ambush site they'd selected the evening before.

The original plan had been to find the marauders, attack the band and chase them into the ravine's dead end. It wasn't the greatest, Arthur had to admit, but it was a matter of paramount importance to find and capture these men before they overtook anymore of Camelot's villages. Merlin, on the other hand, came up with the idea of presenting himself as a target for the marauders to chase down, then lead them to the ravine. Arthur (and others, such as Gwaine) immediately shot the thought down, the king pointing out that a single scrawny peasant wouldn't be enough to lure an entire band on such a long chase. Leon tentatively mentioned that it _could_ work, if one of the knights volunteered to be the bait instead. Agreeing, Arthur said he himself would do so, and when the expected protests were sounded, turned that statement into an order.

He should have realized Merlin would do something foolish, like steal the armor of the only knight almost as thin as himself, and set off to find the marauders before anyone had even realized he was gone. The sole upside, thankfully, being that he'd left Aithusa behind as well.

Barely half an hour later, the entirety of the group of knights were gathered around the clifftops of the ravine, many keeping their senses peeled for any hint of approaching men while a few others grumbled about foolish manservants who hadn't gained any much-needed common sense along with newly inherited Dragonlord powers.

Well.

Mostly Arthur grumbled.

The nearby men kindly ignored him.

Close to midday, right as he was seriously debating leaving the ambush point with Aithusa in order to make the dragon lead him to Merlin, Arthur picked up the sound of distant war cries. Tensing, he signaled for the men to remain hidden. A few minutes later, Merlin came charging into the dead end, panting heavily in Sir Gareth's stolen armor and for some reason carrying a short-handled axe. A large group of smirking men calmly walked in after him, dark chuckles coming from their ranks that caused Arthur to stiffen and Aithusa to hiss.

"Nowhere to run," said a man who stepped to the front, most likely the leader of the band.

Merlin grinned in reply. "That's the idea."

With that, Arthur stood to become visible, and shouted the order to attack. Those of his men with crossbows opened fire, while the others charged and lept down the slopes to get at the surprised marauders. Arthur himself jumped straight for the leader, who was still closest to Merlin and glaring fiercely at the young man. Aithusa followed the king down, shrieking her tiny imitation of a roar as she helped tackle the marauder to the ground. After that, she propelled herself off of Arthur's shoulder and flew down the small battlefield, breathing spurts of smoke at startled marauders, distracting them and making it easier for the knights to gain an upper hand.

Barely ten minutes later, they'd killed a third of the band and captured the rest, including their leader. It was his bad luck that Agravaine noticed a particular pendant hanging from around the man's neck.

Distracted by the unexpected development of having captured the king of a neighboring kingdom, one that Camelot did not have any particular friendship or hostility with, Arthur didn't think to berate Merlin for pulling his crazy stunt until nightfall. Agravaine left him with some advice the blonde didn't feel comfortable with, and when Merlin tried to speak up his first impulse was to tell the younger man to be quiet or go elsewhere.

Then the events from that morning caught up to him, and Arthur turned a glare onto his manservant instead. Merlin, seeing the look, attempted to back out of range. He didn't quite manage before Arthur picked up a nearby stick and launched it, smacking his friend right across the forehead and causing him to trip and fall backwards to the ground.

Aithusa shrieked from where she'd been curled up on a nearby log, and instantly moved to Merlin's side, nuzzling his head while making noises of distress.

"Oh, come on," Arthur complained to open air. "Don't tell me little dragons don't roughhouse!"

"I wouldn't know now, would I?" Merlin grumbled as he sat up, one hand rubbing at his forehead as the other patted Aithusa reassuringly. Arthur winced at that, painfully reminded of Aithusa's status as the second to last dragon thanks to his father's actions. That thought led him back to Agravaine's advice, and sent the young king into a brooding silence once more.

Aithusa suddenly appeared by his knee, holding the same stick he'd thrown at Merlin. Blinking, Arthur accepted it, unsure of why the piece of wood was being returned.

"Try throwing it," his manservant suggested. "Just, y'know, not at me."

Rolling his eyes, the king nonetheless did so, launching the stick across the campfire. Aithusa leapt after it, hurrying to try and catch the thing before it could strike the ground. In moments, she was back at Arthur's side with it, eyes begging for a repeat. He obliged her with a slight chuckle, reminded of the game 'fetch' he'd once played with some of the royal hunting dogs as a boy.

Time seemed to slip away faster than could be noticed, and the first that Arthur realized he'd been playing with the baby dragon for a couple of hours was when he turned to ask Merlin if he wanted a turn, only to realize the younger man was sound asleep. Shaking his head, Arthur stood and walked to where his friend was lying with his head propped against a log. It was a simple matter to pick Merlin up and move him to his proper bedroll, even with Aithusa trotting at his feet and getting in the way a bit. Once he'd gotten the servant settled, Arthur yawned, and contemplated going to sleep on his own bedding. Aithusa scratching at the blanket before shooting him what had to be a reproving stare decided it.

After shucking off his chainmail and actually laying down, however, Arthur was confronted once more with his uncle's advice of forcing Carleon to sign a demanding treaty or else executing the man. Scowling, he shifted in place, realizing that he wouldn't be able to shut his eyes while still considering what course of action to take.

A weight made its presence known against his side. Startled, Arthur glanced down to see a small white form curled up next to him.

"Oi," he whispered, poking at Aithusa's hide. "Shouldn't you be with Merlin?"

The dragon didn't even bother looking at him to respond - she just pressed herself more firmly into his torso. Letting loose a huff, Arthur rested a hand on top of the warm little body, and soon enough fell asleep.

-BA-

A night of decent rest helped Arthur think more clearly in the morning. He thanked Agravaine for his advice the night before, but decided to send a letter to Carleon's Queen Annis, ransoming her husband in return for a treaty that would see peace between their two kingdoms. The woman's reply demanded a face to face meeting, which Arthur's uncle was quick to point out would be the perfect opportunity for a surprise attack. He did not specify from which side.

Nonetheless, the meeting went well, despite Annis apparently having received a surprise visit from Morgana shortly before it began. She bluntly told Arthur that his half-sister was interested in trying to instigate others into warring with Camelot in an effort to get him killed. He replied that it was saddening, but not surprising.

"Morgana has shifted all her hatred of our father onto me," the young king said. "And while I know I'm not entirely undeserving of some of it, I hope to someday convince her I will not be the same man as him."

"No," Annis replied, her gaze straying to Merlin, who stood a few feet back from the proceedings, and the small dragon perched on his shoulders. "I don't believe you'll be the same as Uther at all."


	9. Chapter 9

_A quick warning before you start reading this chapter: one, it ends on a rather terrible cliffhanger (something I'm apparently notorious for), and two, I doubt I'll be able to update for at least a week because of the usual Finals Week craziness. So, you many very well want to wait until chapter 10 comes out before reading this one as well as that, since they're two halves of the same episode. Up to you!_

 _-Tri_

Chapter 9

Arthur cursed himself, not for the first time.

So often - all the time, in fact - he'd finish a fight with bandits or mercenaries and turn around to find his servant on the ground with his arms over his head, trying to keep anyone from noticing and skewering him. Usually, Arthur would cover up his fear that the younger man was once again in danger by calling him useless, a coward, insisting that he get up and out of the way.

He should have known Merlin's uncanny luck to come out of their battles unscathed wouldn't last forever.

He should have paid closer attention.

Instead, the king cut down the last of his opponents, turned around, and saw Merlin lying on the ground in such a way that did _not_ indicate he was just fine. Panic overtaking his body, Arthur darted forward, crashing to his knees beside the scrawny servant. He rolled Merlin over and sucked in a harsh breath at the sight of the blood already coming through his ripped shirt.

The sound of someone running up behind him had the man spinning about, sword at the ready.

"Sire!" Sir Leon slid to a halt before him, eyes darting down to Merlin's collapsed form and back up to meet Arthur's gaze. "You need to get out of here, Sire, there are too many mercenaries and our men have been forced to scatter."

"Right," Arthur breathed. "Right. I need to get Merlin out of here - can you cover our retreat?"

"Gladly, Sire."

"Good. Make sure to keep an eye out for-" A shriek interrupted him, as Aithusa dived down to land next to Merlin. "Nevermind."

Dragon found and following, Arthur hauled a groaning Merlin to his feet and hurried towards the treeline, distantly acknowledging the sound of Leon intercepting the first few ambushers who tried to follow them.

Aithusa, thankfully, kept quiet as she flew after him, though eventually Arthur had to find a hiding place as night began to fall and mercenaries continued to search the woods. Merlin's breathing had grown steadily more ragged as they fled, and at no point was the younger man able to support himself on his own two feet. When Arthur finally found them a small cliff to hunker down against, Aithusa once more landed beside Merlin, nosing at his wound and, for some inexplicable reason, coughing at it. Carefully, the king nudged her aside so he could perform his own inspection.

The damage was clearly from a mace, a fact that had Arthur's gut clenching uncomfortably. Blood still seeped out from the impact point, an area of shredded skin and exposed muscle as large as his spread hand. Most dangerous, though, was the obvious fact that Merlin's collarbone had been cracked, if not broken outright.

Arthur told him he'd seen worse.

Merlin joked that it must've been on a dead man.

The king's frown deepened, and once again Aithusa tried to cough on Merlin's injury.

"Why is she doing that?" Arthur asked in an irritated tone, once more nudging the little dragon aside to he could move Merlin's neckerchief back into place.

"She's tryin' to heal me, you prat," the younger man replied. Arthur blinked.

"Dragons can do that?"

"Mm-hm. S'not well-known, 'cause they only do it for people they like."

"Well, and for Dragonlords too obviously, or else I daresay she wouldn't consider you worth the effort." He grinned as Merlin let out a short bark of laughter. The three of them drifted off into uneasy sleep not long afterward, Arthur keeping close enough to his friend that Aithusa was able to curl up between them and maintain physical contact with both.

-BA-

Dawn came, and with it, a renewal of searching mercenaries.

Aithusa woke first when the scent of unfamiliar men disturbed her rest, and then she was quick to get Arthur up as well. Recognizing that they needed to move, and quickly, he went ahead and pulled Merlin over his shoulder, prompting the younger man to groan and mumble something about leaving him behind. Eyes scanning their surroundings, Arthur muttered back a retort that he'd do no such thing, and this wasn't a time for jokes, _Mer_ lin.

Arriving at a relatively high cliff wall, the king hurried through the maze-like area at it's base to find a ravine to pass through. Unfortunately, right as he was approaching one, so too were a pair of the mercenary band coming through from the other side.

Mind whirling through his available options, Arthur reluctantly laid Merlin on the ground. Aithusa screeched at him in a questioning tone. The blonde didn't take the time to reassure her, instead charging into the ravine in order to fight the two mercenaries and prevent them from getting anywhere near his manservant or the baby dragon.

Luck just wasn't on Arthur's side, though.

He managed to dispatch the pair right as new war cries broke out back the way he'd come. Arthur reined back his fear upon seeing more of the mercenaries running towards him around Merlin's prone form. A couple tried to grab Aithusa, but she went airborne above their reach, shrieking and roaring. Gritting his teeth, Arthur prepared himself to fight the large group, glad at least that the ravine would force them to come at him only one at a time.

Then the walls collapsed.

"MERLIN!"

-BA-

 _Stay with Arthur,_ Merlin incanted in his mind. _Go to Arthur, stay with Arthur, protect Arthur._ Over and over he repeated the order, pushing it towards Aithusa with every ounce of willpower he could muster despite the growing pain. The men dragging him along were not being nearly as gentle as Arthur had, and every bump and shake jarred his injury, causing him to periodically gasp and whimper.

By the time he was finally dropped to the ground, Merlin had no idea how long the group had been travelling, or whether Aithusa was even still following or not. He could think of nothing other than the repeated command, the only thing he could do to keep both his dragon and his king safe.

"How many men did we lose?" A vague voice drifted in past the pain. "And yet you only managed to bring me one of the ones I ordered to be captured." A kick landed against his side, rolling Merlin over and nearly causing him to blackout from pain. Someone else answered the first voice, but it became impossible for Merlin to focus. The best he could hear was something about 'needing to return to Camelot.'

He did pick up the sound of a sword being drawn, and focused solely on projecting his command to Aithusa: _stay with Arthur, protect Arthur,_ _stay with Arthur, protect Arthur,_ _stay with Arthur, protect Ar-_

People picked him up again. This time, the pain did cause Merlin to pass out.

-BA-

When Leon, Elyan, Percival, and Gwaine finally caught up to Arthur, they were expecting their king to be fretting over his injured manservant, with a baby dragon hopping around and making a nuisance of herself to try and keep the mood light.

Instead, they found Arthur looking like his world had ended, Aithusa clinging to his chainmail and letting out occasional soft cries of "Mer-mer..."

"We need to find him."

"All due respect, Sire, you've been out here for more than a day with no food and I expect little water," Leon said. "We need to get you and Aithusa back to the safety of Camelot, to recover."

It took a while to wear the king down, but eventually he relented after nearly staggering headfirst into a tree.

"Fine," Arthur growled. "We'll return home. But I want search parties sent out the instant we do."

"Of course, Sire."

They all did their best to ignore Aithusa's distress on the way back to the city.

-BA-

Merlin came awake with a gasp when a bucket of water was chucked in his face.

Eyes blinking rapidly, he came face to face with just about the last person in the world he wanted to see. "Hello, Morgana."

"Merlin." The woman set her bucket aside, before turning to look him square in the face. "Hmph. I always thought Dragonlords were supposed to look impressive, have a powerful presence about them... But you're still the worthless peasant you've always been."

"I didn't change just because of a sudden inheritance, unlike you," Merlin mumbled, the stimulating effect of the cold water fading away. Morgana brought him back to full awareness by hissing out a short spell, one that caused a stabbing sensation in his midsection. The young man curled inwards, moaning, his feet scrabbling to get some purchase on the floor to help push him away from the magic, to no avail. Ending her spell, Morgana took the opportunity to step close, grabbing Merlin's jaw with an iron grip.

"Tell me, Merlin," she snarled in his face, "How long have you been enchanting Arthur?"

"W-what?"

"I know you must have some sort of ability to influence him - why else would my _dear brother_ allow you to raise a dragon in Camelot?"

"Maybe he's, not as prejudiced, against magic, as you thought."

She slapped him for that. "You're clearly just as much of a fool as ever. If you haven't cast a spell upon Arthur to get him to let your pet live, then it's obvious he's only allowing it to remain in Camelot until it's grown to a proper size so he can kill it in a show of strength."

Merlin glowered at her with as much strength as he could muster. "Wrong again."

"Am I? Maybe you know this, and don't mind raising the creature for slaughter..."

It was his turn to snarl. "I will _never_ let her be killed, and Arthur won't either."

"Perhaps I'll believe you about yourself, because Dragonlords are supposed to be kin to the dragons, but there's no way Arthur is happy about this regardless of how much you've deluded yourself into thinking he is."

"Do me a favor," Merlin rasped as he started to droop again. "Just kill me already, because going round this argument in repeated circles is pointless, and I'm obviously never going to convince you Arthur isn't Uther."

"Oh, but you're not going to die, Merlin." Morgana grasped his jaw again, forcing his gaze upwards to meet her own. "At least, not until you've watched as your pet dragon kills Arthur."

-BA-

"But there must be a way," Arthur said, practically pleading as he looked at Gaius. "Surely even if none of us are able to directly order her, Aithusa will want to go look for Merlin herself! She spent a month constantly returning to his side, for goodness' sake!"

"She was younger then, Sire, too young to obey Merlin's Dragonlord commands to stay away." The old physician sighed, gesturing sadly to the young dragon sitting listlessly on Arthur's lap. She'd been perched upon or clinging to him ever since Merlin was captured, to the point that it had been a struggle to accommodate the young dragon while changing his clothes. "But now Aithusa is two months of age, old enough that Merlin must have given her the order to stay with you, and she is forced to do so."

The king scowled. "Why would he do that? Why not tell her to lead us after him?"

"Probably to keep both her and yourself safe, Sire. Merlin has a habit of sacrificing himself for the good of others, especially if for Camelot's benefit."

Arthur thought of the Dorocha, and the Veil his manservant had been so determined to walk into, and sighed in agreement. "I know."

They were sitting alone in the young king's chambers, Arthur having finished up a meeting with his council earlier. Three search parties had been sent out, led by Leon, Agravaine, and Gwaine respectively, with the dual intentions of removing the bandit threat and finding Merlin. The king himself planned to join them at some point, once he'd recovered from his day in the woods, and had asked to speak with Gaius privately in order to determine how to get Aithusa to track his wayward servant down.

"There is a bit of light to this situation though - we know, as long as Aithusa remains close to you, that Merlin is alive. Should- should he perish, his order will become void, and she'll most likely leave the city."

Arthur looked up in alarm at that. "She'd leave? But- why?"

"I do not know for certain, Sire, but I would expect her to seek out Kilgharrah in order to grieve."

The king suddenly shot to his feet, nearly dislodging Aithusa entirely. "Gaius! That's it! Is there a way to get Aithusa to call for the Great Dragon? Would he be able to find Merlin?"

"I- I do not know."

"No reason not to try - can you go send word for my horse to be made ready? And I'll need to see what's been done with my armor, as well as swing by the kitchens on my way out to get some food for Aithusa-" Arthur cut himself off at the concerned expression on his physician's face. "Gaius?"

"Are you sure you wish to go alone, Sire? I realize you don't want word of Kilgharrah's continued existence to spread beyond those who already know it, but perhaps you should wait for at least one of the others to return..."

The worry warmed his heart, but it could not calm the frantic racing of his mind. "I appreciate the thought, Gaius, but if this won't work, I want to find out as soon as possible so as to move on to something that will. And if it _does,_ then we'll get Merlin back faster than any other option."

"And while I fully approve, it is not wise to put your life back in danger so soon by going out by yourself!"

"I won't be by myself, I'll have Aithusa to warn me of danger. Right, girl?"

The dragonling chirped in response, looking more lively than she had in the entirety of the time since she and Arthur lost Merlin. Gaius sighed, but couldn't help smiling, just a little.

"Fair enough, Sire. Just- be careful. With a traitor in our midst, there is every possibility someone might arrange for you to be ambushed again."

"Of course I'll be careful," Arthur replied, placing a hand on the old man's shoulder. " _And_ I'll see Merlin brought home, one way or another. I promise, Gaius."

"I know you will."

-BA-

 _Not until you've watched as your pet dragon kills Arthur._

Merlin felt his insides turn cold.

"It won't happen," the young man said, forcing out confidence against the growing pain that made him want to pass out once more. "There are no spells you could find that would allow you to dominate a dragon's will, even a baby one. _Especially_ a baby," he corrected.

"Why find a spell when I've got a Dragonlord at my disposal?" Morgana smirked as she turned away from him, heading for a shelf off to one side of the room.

"What, you're going to try and torture me into ordering her to do it?" Merlin let out a laugh that sounded more like a cough and left him wheezing. "Never."

His captor's smirk grew into a terrifying smile as she picked up a bronze disk decorated with the likeness of a many-headed serpent. "Don't be ridiculous, Merlin. You have your beast, and I have mine."

-BA-

When Gwen found out he was leaving again, she trailed after him through half the castle, pleading that Arthur stay to get more rest, to at least eat something before he set off, to not go without at least one other capable swordsman by his side. She made that last remark right as they reached the stable, where the king's horse was waiting.

Arthur turned to face her finally. "Guinevere. You know that I'm going to meet with someone whose identity cannot be spread beyond our circle - if word of it got out, people would panic. And I cannot wait for one of the knights who _does_ know to return, not when that time might mean the difference between returning with Merlin alive or- or-"

"Alright," Gwen interrupted, sparing him the need to say the word they were both thinking. "But surely you can wait the ten minutes it will take for me to get changed."

Arthur's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You-? But, um, don't you have, chores, or something?"

"I'll gladly call in a few favors if it means you aren't alone." The dragonling sitting beside their feet shrieked. "Sorry, so you and Aithusa aren't alone."

"Well..."

"Blacksmith's daughter, Arthur. Sister of a knight. I know how to use a sword."

"Fine. Ten minutes, and then I'm leaving." She beamed at him before hurrying back into the castle, and Arthur reluctantly called for another horse to be saddled.

He wasn't entirely certain whether to be dismayed or relieved when the woman made it back in less than the allotted time, changed into a vest, shirt, breeches and boots, a short sword hung from her belt. Aithusa seemed happy, though, so he took his cue from her.

"So, how are we going to get in touch the Great Dragon?" Guinevere asked as soon as they were far enough from Camelot's gates to avoid being overheard. In response, Arthur grimaced.

"I'm hoping Aithusa will be able to do something to call him. Apparently, Merlin can summon him with a yell, but I'm assuming that's only a Dragonlord thing." Gwen shot him a flat look. "What?"

Just as she opened her mouth to answer, both of them were distracted by Aithusa. The little dragon, who'd been draped peacefully across Arthur's shoulders, suddenly snapped her head up and outright _screamed._ She then leapt from her spot and started flying off down the road.

At first, Arthur was more concerned with the fact he'd nearly gone deaf in one ear, but then the rest of his mind replayed what Gaius had said earlier.

 _We know, as long as Aithusa remains close to you, that Merlin is alive. Should he perish, his order will become void, and she'll most likely leave the city._

Aithusa had left his side.

Arthur spurred his horse into a gallop to chase after her, Gwen right behind him.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The hut looked as though it had been blown apart from the inside out. Debris lay in scattered pieces around the epicenter, where Arthur was concerned to see Aithusa landing.

Concern turned to outright panic when he realized _why_ she headed straight for that spot.

Dismounting, he hurried towards the unmoving form of his unconscious friend, who appeared positively ill as well as injured. The mace wound on his chest looked as though it had been tended to, but then reopened with whatever struggles Merlin had gone through.

"What happened?" Gwen murmured, kneeling beside the both of them, hands hovering over the pale man's body. Arthur shook his head mutely, taking hold of Aithusa to tug her away and allow Guinevere a better look at what needed to be done for Merlin's wound. A sudden noise caught their attention, and both looked up in time to see a pile of debris several yards ahead of them shifted aside.

Morgana stood up from it.

Instantly, Arthur was on his feet, sword drawn as he positioned himself defensively in front of Gwen and Merlin. Aithusa, hissing, jumped and flapped in order to hover beside his head.

For her part, Morgana stared at the baby dragon for a good minute before she seemed to realize who else was present. " _Arthur._ So, the hypocrite king has come to rescue his pet sorcerer."

Hands tightening on his sword's grip, Arthur refused to answer in anger, keeping his tone low and calm. "Dragonlord or not, Morgana, I will always come after Merlin, just as he'll always come after me. Now, I'm going to give you one chance: _leave_."

The witch simply stared at him, before throwing her head back and laughing. Arthur felt more than heard Gwen shifting uneasily behind him, but refused to do the same.

"You don't know!" Morana crowed, finally looking at him again. She gestured at the destruction around them. "This isn't the work of any _Dragonlord power,_ Arthur. Your Merlin has _much_ more magic in his veins than that."

"...What?"

Smirking, Morgana didn't deign to reply - instead, she chucked a fireball at his head. Arthur dropped, letting the spell pass over above him but not moving from his spot in front of Gwen and Merlin. His sister apparently anticipated the move, as the next fireball she conjured was larger, and aimed straight at his torso. Recognizing that he'd have to take the hit in order to shield the others, Arthur braced himself.

Except, Aithusa darted forward, and _caught_ the thing.

All the humans present were equally startled, though Arthur found himself grinning when the dragonling launched the spell back at its creator. Morgana shrieked and had to dive to one side to avoid her own magic.

"You little fool," the witch snarled, getting back to her feet. "Dragons are supposed to be wise beyond reckoning - don't you realize you're just being turned into a glorified guard dog?!" Aithusa screeched, sounding more angry than Arthur had ever heard before. Morgana's eyes widened when the dragonling flew up to a point just a few feet above her head. It took a couple of coughing tries, but then Aithusa succeeded in breathing out a bright burst of orange flames.

Morgana dodged the main blast, but as part of her dress caught fire, Arthur took the opportunity to lunge forward at her with his sword. A barked spell was enough to push aside his attack, though the distraction gave Aithusa the opportunity to breathe flame again. Evidently, Morgana decided she didn't want to press her luck fighting the both of them, and with a shout, vanished in a whirlwind.

Letting out a huff, Arthur didn't dare let down his guard until the baby dragon did, and then both of them returned to Gwen and Merlin. The woman was still crouched in place, one hand gripping the sword she'd brought with her while the other cupped the back of Merlin's head. "Is- is she gone?"

"I think so," Arthur answered, dropping to his knees again. He frowned when Aithusa started sniffing at Merlin's neck, little growling noises coming from her throat. Gwen responded by shifting her hand lower to nudge the dragonling's snout away, only to pause with a strange expression on her face.

"Arthur, help me roll him over."

Not bothering to ask why, the man did as she asked, and both of them blanched upon spying the black spot that was under the skin of Merlin's neck - and _moving._

Aithusa let out an affronted sound, as if she were insulted by the thing's presence. Sticking her nose in the air, the dragonling circled around her Lord's prone form, taking in great, deep sniffs of the air. Both Arthur and Gwen flinched when she let out a triumphant little roar.

"Aithusa, what-" Before Arthur could finish his question, the baby dragon had pounced on a pile of debris and proceeded to dig through it, until finally catching and yanking out a multi-headed serpent.

"What in the world is that?" Gwen asked, staring at the snapping, hissing heads.

"Something magical," Arthur answered her, "And clearly, Aithusa doesn't like it anymore than we do." Even as he spoke, the dragonling pinned her prey to ground, where she used her newly found flames to burn it.

The instant the dragonfire started attacking the serpent, Merlin began to twitch and writhe on the ground, his labored breathing turning into pants. Even more distressing was the increased movement of the thing in the back of his neck. With his gaze jumping back and forth between Merlin and Aithusa, Arthur realized that whatever the thing infesting his friend was, it had a connection to the serpent Aithusa was burning.

As soon as she finished destroying the trapped creature, the thing inside of Merlin gave a final shiver before seeming to shrink a bit. The dragonling seemed content with what she'd done and trotted back to them, head and wings held high.

"We can assume that was a good thing, right?" Gwen wondered aloud.

"I certainly hope so," Arthur replied, a moment before he attention was caught by a groan from the man lying beside them. "Merlin?"

"Oww..." Blue eyes slowly blinked open, their owner taking a minute to recognize the concerned faces hovering over his own. "Wh- Arth'r? Gw'n?"

"Yes, it's us," the woman told him, smiling as Aithusa insistently began to nudge at Merlin's head with her own. "You're safe now, Merlin."

"But- what happ-" The dark-haired man cut himself off, eyes widening as a hand flew to the back of his neck. "Morgana! The snake-! Arthur, you and Aithusa have to get away from me, NOW!"

"What? Why?"

"She did something- Morgana had a, a creature, some sort of serpent with many heads- she said she was going to force me to order Aithusa to kill you, and then she put that thing _in_ me, I could _feel_ it- trying to, to take control, but I couldn't, I _can't-_ "

"Merlin, you need to calm down." Focusing on his friend's distress, Arthur refused to let any of the fear that had suddenly installed itself in a cold knot in his belly show on his face. "Morgana's gone. Aithusa dug out and destroyed a serpent like that. And Guinevere and I saw the thing in your neck react to its death, so I think it's safe to say you won't be doing anything Morgana wants."

Though Merlin still looked terrified, he at least stopped babbling.

"Good. Now, we're going to get you onto my horse, and then we'll take you home to Gaius, alright? He'll make sure you're truly fine, Aithusa will spend hours fussing over you, and then things can return to normal." Arthur nearly sagged in relief when Merlin finally nodded. Instead, he helped pull the smaller man to his feet, Gwen supporting his other side while Aithusa took to the air in order to flap around all their heads. Soon enough, all three humans were situated on the pair of horses and headed back to Camelot, the small white dragon flying in circles around them the entire way.

-BA-

Not until Gaius had removed the shriveled snake's head from Merlin's neck and sent the man to sleep with a draught did Arthur bring up what Morgana had said when they'd confronted her. The physician looked decidedly shifty, and tried to give the king a half-answer that only served to heighten his unease. Surprisingly, it was Gwaine (who'd returned with his search party only a few minutes before Arthur and Gwen arrived with the exhausted Merlin) that provided something resembling an explanation.

"Merlin's more than a Dragonlord, Queenie," he announced, surprising everyone in the room. "How much more, I was told in confidence and am not at liberty to say, because it's all very personal and dangerous and important. You'll have to take the matter up with Merlin when he's feeling well enough to explain."

Arthur glared at the knight, who met his gaze evenly. "I need to know, Gwaine."

"I won't argue with that. But do you need to know right this minute? No. Or even the same minute that Merlin wakes up? Not really. Did you need to know when you first met the bloke? Of bloody course not."

"You aren't exactly helping to calm my imagination."

"Well, I've never exactly been good at that. But you know what I am good at?" Gwaine paused in his pacing to brace his hands against the tabletop, leaning forward in a mirror image of Arthur's position. "Recognizing goodness and decency. And Merlin's got more than enough of both to fill this castle twice over. So stop worrying about anything else he's got plenty of, and just focus on the fact that this is your _friend,_ who, apparently, managed to shake off a command to bring about your death."

Across the room, Gaius and Gwen watched in fascination as the king and knight held their battle of wills. Eventually, it seemed that Gwaine won, for Arthur suddenly stood, stepped away, and settled himself in a chair at the base of the stairs leading to Merlin's room.

-BA-

Waking up with a small dragon snout in his ear was a familiar and not entirely pleasant sensation. Merlin scrunched his face up.

"Aithusa, please move." The screech that went off immediately beside his ear had the young man grimacing, but then he was too busy with an excited dragonling to care. "Yes, alright, all _right,_ I'm glad you're okay too-"

"Mer mer mer mer mer mer my Mer!"

"-yes I'm your Mer, just please stop jumping on me, that hurts, Aithusa-"

"I'm not sure whether I should be amused or horrified." Pushing one of Aithusa's flapping wings out of the way, Merlin just barely managed to get a glimpse of Arthur leaning in the doorway.

"What are you talking about, you prat?"

"The fact that you can't control a ten pound baby dragon - I don't know if it's amusing you're that pathetic, or horrified at the implications for the continued existence of my city once she gets bigger."

"Don't be ridiculous. When she's bigger, she'll actually _listen_ when I tell her to do, or stop, something." That said, Merlin finally managed to pin Aithusa down in a happily purring lump at his side, away from the sore area on his chest.

"She seemed to obey your command to stick close to me quite well. Assuming, of course, you'd actually told her to do so." Arthur took a seat beside his bed.

"...I'd forgotten about that," Merlin muttered, turning his eyes to the ceiling about with a frown. "I think it was less a proper command, and more a long, frantic chant inside my head for her to protect you. Of course, I was in a fair amount of pain at the time, so maybe I was really giving her the order to _pester_ you, and it got messed up instead." Arthur didn't give any response other than to hum non-committedly and stare at Merlin to the point he shifted uneasily. "What? What is it?"

A few moments later, the king blinked, and shook his head. "Nothing. Just making sure you're really alright."

"Be right as rain in a couple of days, just you see."

"Hmph."

"...Arthur, are you sure nothing's wrong?"

The blonde let out a short, harsh bark of laughter, rubbing at his face. "No, plenty of things are wrong. A traitor amongst my council, Morgana attempting to turn you against me, our usual good luck of falling tree branches turning on its head with that rockslide that cut us off from each other - you didn't have anything to do with that, did you?"

Merlin abruptly stiffened, and tried not to show it. "What do you mean?"

"Do Dragonlord powers come out in other ways at all? Like other forms of magic I've seen?"

"N- not that I'm aware of..."

Arthur sighed. "Right. Of course not." He sat pensively for a while longer, before ruffling Merlin's hair and getting to his feet. "Alright, you. Get some rest, and I expect to see you bright and early for work in three days."

"Of course, Sire! In between now and then, would you like me to have Aithusa be the one to deliver your meals and do your laundry? She's gotten quite used to helping me after all-"

"Oh shut up, you idiot. Aithusa?" The dragonling picked her head up to look at the king. "You have my full permission to pester him all you like, provided he's kept in bed for as long as it takes those wounds to heal." She chirped an acceptance and proceeded to assault Merlin's head again, squeaking and bouncing about and being a general nuisance. Merlin did his best to protest, both Arthur's prerogative and Aithusa's enthusiastic fulfillment of it, but didn't have much luck as most of his attention went towards trying to calm the dragonling down.

Arthur grinned as he left. Any retribution Merlin later delivered would be well worth the it.

 _A/N: Uuuuuugh._

 _I apologize for the longer-than-expected delay - finals week was awful, not so much because of tests but thanks to my depression taking things up a level from its usual state. I'm honestly lucky I managed to make the thousand mile drive home from college without deliberately going off the road in an effort to kill myself. First week back's been a mixed back with my mother, but Dad at least has finally been clued in to how bad things have been lately, and talking to him today about his own experiences with such problems helped. (Plus, his house has internet, which hers does not, and being able to read and write fan fic does wonders for lowering my stress levels, funnily enough.)_

 _Next chapter's more of an interlude than anything else, but at least it's already written and can be posted at the earliest opportunity next week. After that, things are more up in the air - I need to put in serious work on my novel before the Texas Writers League Conference this summer, and that means most if not all of my fan fiction projects are going to be put on hold. I'll write when I can, but chances are you guys won't see chapter 12 until early July at the soonest. Sorry._

 _Hope you lovely readers will still be here when I make my (hopefully triumphant) return,_

 _-Tri_


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"MERLIN!" Everyone looked up as Arthur entered the hall, a furious expression on his face as Aithusa chirped and clung to his shoulder.

"Erm, yes?" The younger man answered, looking distinctly nervous. "What's wrong?"

" _Your dragon,_ " Arthur spat out. "Seems to keep _insisting_ on calling me 'prat'!"

"Prat-prat!" Aithusa agreed, flapping her wings.

"Well," Merlin said slowly with a grin. "Maybe that's because you are one?"

Arthur growled, and started marching around the table to get to his manservant, who hurriedly backed away in the opposite direction while the rest of their friends and the council watched with amusement.

"This is all your fault, I _know_ it is!"

"Oh come off it, Arthur, she's got little pet-names for everyone!"

"'Prat' is not a name, it's an insult!"

Jumping off of Arthur's shoulder, Aithusa flapped her way over to the nearest calm person. "Gise?"

"Yes, little one?" Gaius asked.

"Prat-prat mad'a Mermer?"

"I'm afraid so, but he'll get over it in due time."

The dragonling hunched in on herself, tail wrapping around her feet. "M'fult."

"No, not your fault Aithusa. It's just that the king's been under a great deal of pressure lately, and Merlin goes out of his way to make him upset. Stress relief, I believe he calls it. Do you understand?" Gaius smiled as the baby bobbed her head up and down. Meanwhile, Arthur had sped up to the point he was practically running after Merlin, who continued to circle the table and let out one mild insult after another.

Abruptly, Aithusa leapt up and flew back to Arthur. "King Prat!" She happily announced. The blonde man nearly stopped out of shock, whereas Merlin did come to a halt in order to double over laughing.

"Well, at least she got _one_ thing right," the king grumbled. Stalking up to his servant, he swatted the younger man on the back of his head, and then called the council meeting to order.

-BA-

"I know you can do it, little one."

"Per-per!"

"That's right, now come on, just add that 'ss' sound to the end."

"Per... Pers-pers?"

"Better, Aithusa. Can you add the 'vv' sound next?"

"Pers- pers-vl!"

"That's good! You got the el in too!"

"Pers-vl! Pers-vl!"

(Everyone was astounded the next day when the little dragon arrived at the training fields, saw her large friend, and shouted a perfectly pronounced "Percival!")

-BA-

"Come on now, you did it with Percival. Come on, say 'Gwaine'."

"Win?"

"No, _Gw-aine."_

"Win."

"Don't be like that, I know you can say it properly! Gwaine. _Gw-aine._ Guh-wuh-ayn. Gwaine."

"...Gwin?"

The man sighed in defeat. "Close enough."

-BA-

"Lin!"

"I do believe that's a female name, little one."

"Lin?"

"Two syllables. I'm sure you can figure them out - you did with Percival."

"Percival!"

"Yes, him."

"Le-en!"

"Yes, that's right. Two sounds. Lee, on."

"Leon?"

The Head Knight blinked. And then smiled. "Perfect, Aithusa."

"Th'nks, Leen!"

"...You do that on purpose, don't you?"

"Mm."

"Do you actually know how to say Gwaine's name, then?"

"Gwaine, Gwin, Gwinny."

The smile turned into a smirk. "I don't mind you still calling me 'Leen' if you keep calling him 'Gwinny'."

-BA-

"Now, I know you know this is a sword."

"Sw'rd!"

"Uh-huh, and this is a warhammer."

"Wer-himm'r?"

"Very good, and that's a normal hammer."

"Himmer!"

"Mm-hm, better. Here's my forge-"

"Elyeen's forge?"

"That's right, you said forge perfectly! Excellent!"

"Elyan's forge!"

Quite a few people passing by the smithy paused in confusion when the dual, happy shouts of 'Elyan's forge! Elyan's forge!' rang out from the building for nearly a whole hour.

-BA-

"Do you want me to tell you a story, Aithusa?" Merlin asked as he walked through the forest, herb pouch by his side and dragonling on his shoulder.

"St'ry, st'ry!"

"Alright then, anything in particular you'd like to hear about?"

Aithusa settled into in a considerate pose, thinking over her options. "...Lins-lot?"

"Y- yes, I'll tell you a story about Lancelot. How about the first time I met him? I was out picking mushrooms one night, when all of a sudden this huge griffin came out of nowhere..."

-BA-

"Arthur."

"Prat."

"Arthur."

"Prat."

" _Arthur."_

"King Prat?"

"Argh...

"Arthur, are you still trying to get her to say your name?"

The king looked up guiltily. "No. Of course not."

"Well," Gwen smiled, bending over to scoop the baby dragon into her arms. "If you _were,_ I'd say you should go the same route that Percival did. Aithusa, what's my short-name?"

"Gwen!"

"Very good, aren't you such a smart girl? Now, what gets added after that part?"

"Gwen-iv?"

"Perfect! And one more sound at the end..."

"Eer! Gwen-iv-eer! Guinevere!"

"That's right, you did it! Good job, Aithusa."

"Alright, fine, I get it, take small steps," Arthur grumbled from his seat. "But I swear to you, Merlin's trained her to _never_ say my name, no matter what!"

"Arthur."

Both humans snapped their heads around to stare at Aithusa, who looked rather smug. A moment later, the king jumped up with a whoop. "HA! She said it! She did! She said Arthur before Gwaine! Ha-ha!"

Gwen shook her head as the ridiculous man dashed from the room, eager to go rub the victory in his most irresponsible knight's face. She then sent a suspicious glance down at Aithusa. "You're never going to say it when anyone more than he or I are around, will you?"

The smug look increased. "King Prat."

-BA-

"Gaius," Aithusa murmured as she curled up beside a snoring Merlin to go to sleep that night. "Percival. Gwaine. Leon. Elyan. Guinevere. Arthur. Merlin. Mine. My Gise, my Per-per, my Gwin, my Leen, my Elee, my Gwenny, my Prat, my Mer-mer. My flock."


End file.
